Saucecats' concert, sidewalk sales draw crowd to Mt. Pleasant

A combination of Mt. Pleasant’s sidewalk sales and the Max and Emily’s Summer Concert Series brought a flood of people downtown Thursday evening.

Remus-based zydeco band The Saucecats hit the stage at 7 p.m. and got 2,100 area residents clapping and dancing along.

“They’re the kind of band where they say, ‘You sir, in the last row, you who are sitting down — it’s time to get up and dance,’” Max & Emily’s general manager Chris “Elmo” Walton said. “We certainly had a lot of people dancing this evening.”

Walton said he couldn’t be happier with the amount of couples, children and families that were dancing in front of the stage.

Walton said The Saucecats had performed at the series once before in 2010.

“The crowd has grown over the years,” he said. “People have come to expect a fun family evening at the Max and Emily’s Summer concert series.”

Perry English, who plays percussion and the Zydeco Rub Board, said the crowd this year was about three times larger than it was in 2010.

“It’s definitely grown in popularity,” he said about the series. “I think they’ve moved the stage back a little bit since then to accommodate more people.”

English said The Saucecats have performed at venues and in tents, but performing in a shut-down street never gets old.

English said The Saucecats play zydeco music, a type of New Orleans and Mardi Gras music.

It’s fun to play, he said.Debbie Rogers, an Alma resident, trekked up to Mt. Pleasant to watch the band.

“It’s very upbeat and fun to dance to,” she said. “It’s fun to watch all the people dancing.”

Rogers and her friend, Alma resident Bonnie Middleton, both spent the evening dancing up front by the stage.

Middleton said she had seen The Saucecats perform before, and had been looking forward to spending some time outdoors in the break from the recent 90-degree heat.

Plus, Middleton said, she is a fan of the zydeco style music.

“It’s jazzy, it’s upbeat, it’s fun,” she said. “I mean, you can hang out in your backyard all the time, but to come out where there’s music, and it’s downtown, and there’s people, it’s fun.”

Walton said the concert series accepts donations for the Red Cross infant pantry as well.

As of the third concert, he said, more than $2,000 has been raised.

Max and Emily’s will host one more concert this summer. Howie Day and Friends will perform 7 p.m. Aug. 24 at the intersection of Broadway and University streets.

Randi Shaffer is a reporter at the Morning Sun. She can be reached at 989-779-6059, rshaffer@michigannewspapers.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/randi.shaffer